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Cyberterrorism: hype and reality
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Conway, Maura |
| Copyright Year | 2007 |
| Abstract | Introduction The term cyberterrorism unites two significant modern fears: fear of technology and fear of terrorism. Both of these fears are evidenced in this quote from Walter Laqueur, one of the most well known figures in terrorism studies: “The electronic age has now made cyberterrorism possible. A onetime mainstay of science fiction, the doomsday machine, looms as a real danger. The conjunction of technology and terrorism make for an uncertain and frightening future.” It is not only academics that are given to sensationalism. Cyberterrorism first became the focus of sustained analysis by government in the mid-1990s. In 1996 John Deutch, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), testified before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the United States’ Senate Governmental Affairs Committee: International terrorist groups clearly have the capability to attack the information infrastructure of the United States, even if they use relatively simple means. Since the possibilities for attacks are not difficult to imagine, I am concerned about the potential for such attacks in the future. The methods used could range from such traditional terrorist methods as a vehicle-delivered bomb -directed in this instance against, say, a telephone switching centre or other communications node -to electronic means of attack. The latter methods could rely on paid hackers. The ability to launch an attack, however, are likely to be within the capabilities of a number of terrorist groups, which themselves have increasingly used the Internet and other modern means for their own communications. Both the popularity and, to some extent, the credibility of such scenarios was given a boost by the entertainment industry. Hollywood, eager to capitalise on the cyberterrorist threat, released the James Bond film Goldeneye in 1995. Other sectors were quick to follow with the publishing industry introducing Tom Clancy and Steve R. Pieczenik’s Net Force series in 1998. As Ralf Bendrath has pointed out: “Sometimes it is hard to tell what is science and what is fiction. Winn Schwartau, for example, the rock manager turned preacher of ‘information warfare’ who runs the famous website infowar.com, has testified several times as an IT security expert before Congress, and has written two novels on cyberterror. Even renowned cyber-war theoreticians like John Arquilla have not hesitated to publish thrilling cyber-terror scenarios for the general audience. But these works are not only made for entertainment. They produce certain visions of the future and of the threats and risks looming there.” |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://doras.dcu.ie/501/1/cybert_hype_reality_2007.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
